Speaker
Description
Deep underground environments expose humans to environmental conditions whose physiological effects remain almost entirely unstudied, despite their relevance to mining, remote operations, and extreme environment medicine. POLAR (Physiology Of Life in Austere Regions) is using portable ultrasound technology at SNOLAB to capture the first real-time measurements of human cardiac and pulmonary function during acute deep underground exposure. The program will also investigate how elevated ambient pressure alters the behaviour of ultrasound contrast microbubbles deep underground, advancing the potential for imaging, diagnostics, and clinical decision-making in austere settings. By establishing the first in vivo physiological reference dataset deep underground, POLAR creates a new platform for occupational health research, remote monitoring, and human performance science in extreme environments.